Philip Lorca – diCorsa – Photographer (Born 1951)
It was suggested by Simon, my tutor that I look at the work of Philip Lorca diCorsa, in comparison to the work of Bruce Gilden (or Bruce Davidson). Straight away you can see the difference in the styles; although they do convey the same level reality with the image.
Where as Gilden “ambushes” his subjects spontaneous action, to capture a very raw image where you can smell the street, diCorsa has taken time to set up the up the lighting/angles of the shot first. Then he generally invites the subject to step into the images (although he does some capture some people candidly when they walk into the pre-setup frame).
It is said that diCorsa’s work “blurs lines between what’s real and fictional” (HEPWORTHWAKEFIELD, 2014). This makes his images much more than portraits or street photography. They “give the viewer authority over the meaning of the work”. (HEPWORTHWAKEFIELD, 2014) i.e. diCorsa puts a distance between the subject and the photographer which very unconventional which allow the viewer to interpret the scene from a different point view.
This different viewpoint partly come from diCorsa being naturally a little uncomfortable with shoot people; however, it gives the images a sense of drama reminiscent of a film still, something that I do not would not some from images show from within the scene e.g. in corparison to Bruce Davidsons subway series.
I have been very taken by the shots in diCorsa’s Hustler set – although they are stage through the lighting they really drop the viewer into the scene you can feel the despair of the subject there insolation from society. As mentioned above the images be like individual film stills and the staged lighting add the all ready desperate feel of the subject, which is people on the edges of society during the AIDS crisis of the early ‘90’s.
Bibliography
HEPWORTHWAKEFIELD. 2014. Philip-Lorca diCorcia: Photographs 1975 – 2012. [online]. [Accessed 22 Aug 2015]. Available from World Wide Web: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=So_FK4qnz5Q>
BICKER, Phil. 2013. Trade: Philip-Lorca diCorcia’s Hollywood Hustlers. [online]. [Accessed 22 Aug 2015]. Available from World Wide Web: <http://time.com/3803327/trade-philip-lorca-dicorcias-hollywood-hustlers-drug-addicts-and-drifters/>